{"id":424727,"date":"2022-04-01T05:52:28","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T02:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/r-j-davis-and-aj-griffin-take-rivalry-to-march-madness-final-four\/"},"modified":"2022-04-01T05:52:28","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T02:52:28","slug":"r-j-davis-and-aj-griffin-take-rivalry-to-march-madness-final-four","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/r-j-davis-and-aj-griffin-take-rivalry-to-march-madness-final-four\/","title":{"rendered":"#R.J. Davis and AJ Griffin take rivalry to March Madness Final Four"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3c20976399f\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3c20976399f\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/r-j-davis-and-aj-griffin-take-rivalry-to-march-madness-final-four\/#%E2%80%9CRJ_Davis_and_AJ_Griffin_take_rivalry_to_March_Madness_Final_Four%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;R.J. Davis and AJ Griffin take rivalry to March Madness Final Four&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CRJ_Davis_and_AJ_Griffin_take_rivalry_to_March_Madness_Final_Four%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;R.J. Davis and AJ Griffin take rivalry to March Madness Final Four&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>NEW ORLEANS \u2014 North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has called his state \u201cthe center of the college basketball universe,\u201d as its two bitter rivals face off in the Final Four.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, the winner of this intergalactic battle could be determined by Westchester County, located more than 1,300 miles to the northeast of where this showdown between Duke and North Carolina \u2014 their first matchup in NCAA Tournament history \u2014 will be staged.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>North Carolina\u2019s R.J. Davis and Duke\u2019s AJ Griffin, starters for their respective teams and former teammates at Archbishop Stepinac who won a state title together, will be representing the New York City area on the biggest stage of the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot many people from Stepinac make it to the Final Four, and to say you played against each other is something we\u2019ll always remember,\u201d Griffin said on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There was major buzz about Davis and Griffin this week at Stepinac, everyone recalling their days at the school and trying to finalize plans for which party to attend to watch them face each other. Coach Pat Massaroni heard a kid marveling at the fact he was walking the same halls as Davis and Griffin once did.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/1384422417.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"AJ Griffin\" class=\"wp-image-21739725\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/1384422417.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/1384422417.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/1384422417.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/1384422417.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>AJ Griffin<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe biggest word that comes to mind is pride,\u201d said Archbishop Stepinac senior Samuel Gibbs, who played with the pair for two years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They took different paths to get to this point. Griffin, a 6-foot-6 projected one-and-done lottery pick from Ossining, entered Stepinac with significant hype and was top-ranked prospect in his class by the end of his freshman year of high school. The 6-foot Davis out of White Plains didn\u2019t break out on the national stage until the summer before his senior year. Massaroni remembered high-major coaches telling him Davis wasn\u2019t good enough. That all changed that summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we knew, and what I knew, at Stepinac now became a national thing,\u201d Massaroni said. \u201cAll those guys who said he wasn\u2019t good enough now wanted to recruit him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Davis committed to North Carolina in October 2019. A month later, Griffin picked Duke. The two knew they would soon be rivals. In practices and pickup <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>s, they played on different teams and went at one another. The matchups were intense.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat put a little bit of a chip on each other\u2019s shoulders,\u201d Gibbs said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The two have enjoyed strong seasons, key parts of their respective teams\u2019 run to this weekend. Davis progressed from a complementary piece to an essential part of the Tar Heels as a sophomore, averaging 13.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and shooting 37.4 percent from 3-point range.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In four NCAA Tournament games, he has piled up 24 assists while committing just eight turnovers, and exploded for a career-high 30 points in a second-round upset of top-seeded Baylor. In the Heels\u2019 upset win at Duke to close the regular season, he poured in 21 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/1388061920.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"R.J. Davi\" class=\"wp-image-21739720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/1388061920.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/1388061920.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/1388061920.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/1388061920.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>R.J. Davis<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhenever [his team is doubted] seems to be when R.J. delivers the most,\u201d Gibbs said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Griffin hasn\u2019t been as consistent. A preseason knee injury set him back, and he didn\u2019t break into the starting lineup until mid-January. He\u2019s shown flashes of his limitless ceiling, scoring 27 points in a win at North Carolina and 18 in the West Regional rout of fourth-seeded Arkansas. His numbers \u2014 10.5 points, 3.9 rebounds \u2014 may not be overly impressive, although he has been Duke\u2019s most consistent 3-point threat, a court-spacing force shooting 45.8 percent from beyond the arc.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Together, they put Stepinac on the map, leading the Crusaders to the 2018 city and state championship. The next year, they fell to Christ the King in the city championship and were the top overall seed in the playoffs the following year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. They\u2019ll be on the court together again Saturday night, meeting for the third time this year. Griffin and Duke won the first meeting. Davis and North Carolina won the second. The rubber match is by far the most important one. No matter who wins, Stepinac will be represented on the final night of the college basketball season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt shows you can stay home in New York and still get to the highest level,\u201d Massaroni said. \u201cThe two of them, McDonald\u2019s All-Americans. The two of them, New York State champions. The two of them, playing in the ACC and producing, and now the two of them in the Final Four, and for one of them, hopefully a national championship.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Gibbs laughed when asked if he\u2019s rooting for either team. Everyone, he said, is asking him that. He hopes both play well.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just want to see them have fun, enjoy the moment,\u201d Gibbs said. \u201cI think Stepinac is the winner out of all of this, in that you\u2019re seeing people from Westchester County compete on the highest stage possible.\u201d\u00a0\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/03\/31\/r-j-davis-and-aj-griffin-take-rivalry-to-march-madness-final-four\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;R.J. Davis and AJ Griffin take rivalry to March Madness Final Four&#8221; NEW ORLEANS \u2014 North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has called his state \u201cthe center of the college basketball universe,\u201d as its two bitter rivals face off in the Final Four.\u00a0 With that in mind, the winner of this intergalactic battle could be determined&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":424728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/newspress-collage-21739023-1648779088573.png?w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[127371,88360,126252,75265],"class_list":["post-424727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-3-31-22","tag-duke-blue-devils","tag-march-madness-2022","tag-north-carolina-tar-heels"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}